Help us to establish Drala Jong - a Buddhist Retreat Centre in Wales

Help us to establish Drala Jong - a Buddhist Retreat Centre in Wales
Help us to establish Drala Jong - a Buddhist Retreat Centre in Wales

Monday 26 December 2011

Perception and response are inherently and simultaneously crime and punishment

"Perception and response are inherently and simultaneously crime and punishment. Any concept of being extradited for ‘sentences unserved’ and ‘crimes unpunished’ is nonsensical in terms of Dharma. This may sound slightly shocking to some people. It could well offend your sense of spiritual law and order. You might feel moral outrage about the fact that we are all our own punishment. Each one of us is the worst punishment we could ever fear – and best reward we could hope to achieve."

Karma - The Personal Police State, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Encyclopaedia

Monday 19 December 2011

Remain steadfast in that choice

"There is no purpose in requesting a Lama to accept one as a student and then to take issue with his or her advice on the basis of information received from other quarters. One chooses one's Lama on the basis of one's recognition of his or her qualities, and, having made the choice, one should remain steadfast in that choice."

p17, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Monday 12 December 2011

One treats thoughts as welcome yet transient guests

"This is why in the practice of shi-nè we let go and let be. We do not encourage thought, yet neither do we block it. We treat the process of thought gently. We let thoughts come, and we let thoughts go. We translate shi-nè as 'remaining uninvolved.' If thoughts arise, one lets them arise; if they dissolve, one allows their dissolution. If thoughts are present, one allows their presence. One does not add to them or protract them. If thoughts depart, one does not detain them. One treats them as welcome yet transient guests. One treats thought as a fire that has served its purpose -- one merely ceases to add further fuel. If one stops fueling thought with active involvement, thought settles and one enters into a calm and undisturbed state"

p44, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Monday 5 December 2011

The Lama is integral and essential with regard to practice

"Different lineages and different Lamas have their own particular approaches, and one cannot proceed without advice as to the path one chooses to follow. The Lama is integral and essential with regard to practice, and so all decisions about what is or is not necessary depend on one's own Lama. It would be inappropriate, therefore, to take advice on this subject from a book -- if that book conflicted with the advice one had received from one's chosen Lama."

p16, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7